‘Developers, banks lose Rs 400 cr/day due to decision delays’

New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) The infrastructure and banking industry suffers losses worth around Rs 400 crore per day due to delayed decision-making at various levels, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said here today.

The minister said when he took charge in May, he was given the uphill task of untangling investments worth Rs 1,80,000 crore in the sector due to lag in land acquisition, forest and environmental clearances.

“The (previous) government was mainly responsible for about Rs 1,80,000 crore worth of projects stuck. It was 90 per cent government’s responsibility and 10 per cent fault of contractors and bankers,” Gadkari said at an Assocham event.

“Delay in taking decisions costs about Rs 400 crore per day to developers and bankers,” he added.

As many as 189 projects worth Rs 1,80,000 crore were stuck due to problems in land acquisition, delays in forest and environmental clearances, non-transfer of defence land and hurdles in rail over-bridges.

Problems in most of the projects have been cleared and rest of the work is in progress, said Gadkari, adding that after clearing the backlog, Road Ministry aspires to build 30 kms of roads per day.

The government is currently working on projects worth Rs 21,000 crore in Jammu & Kashmir and Rs 15,000 crore in the North-Eastern region.

The minister further said that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is working on improving the main accidental spots at various highways in the country.